A sampling of links to recent space policy, politics, and government (US and international) related space news and resource items that I found of interest:

• Schedule:
  • What’s Happening in Space Policy April 28-May 4, 2019 – SpacePolicyOnline.com
• Moon plans:
  • The Race to Develop the Moon | The New Yorker
  • NASA tweaks call for lunar lander concepts – SpaceNews.com
  • What Can We Learn from a Failed Return to the Moon? | The Planetary Society
  • Trump and Pence push ‘America First’ agenda to the moon and outer space – The Washington Post
• SLS/Orion:
  • NASA to perform key test of the SLS rocket, necessitating a delay in its launch | Ars Technica
  • NASA urged to retain key SLS test – SpaceNews.com
• Spaceflight regulation:
  • Independent body proposed to ensure commercial spaceflight safety – SpaceNews.com
• Asteroid protection:
  • The Planetary Society Announces 2019 Call for Proposals for Shoemaker NEO Grant Program – The Planetary Society
  • NASA, FEMA to play out new asteroid impact scenario – Axios
• Planetary contamination
  • Committee to review NASA planetary protection policies – SpaceNews.com
• Space traffic:
  • Satellite Firms Debate New Commerce Space Safety Rules « Breaking Defense
  • FCC approves SpaceX’s plans to fly internet-beaming satellites in a lower orbit – The Verge
  • FCC approves SpaceX’s revised Starlink satellite plan – GeekWire
• US military space:
  • Launch:
    • Pushback continues as Air Force prepares to request bids for space launch services – SpaceNews.com
    • The Air Force Launch Plan Must Work – Breaking Defense
    • Musk to Pentagon: SpaceX ‘Missed the Mark’ on a Launch Bid – Bloomberg
  • Pentagon official: Threats to US space systems ‘at an all-time high’ – Washington Examiner
• Chinese space:
  • China Plans to Build a Moon Base Near the Lunar South Pole | Space.com
  • Private Space Launch Firms in China Race to Orbit – IEEE Spectrum
  • China Exploits 9 U.S. Satellites in Space to Advance Their Military, Missile Guidance – Satnews
• Euro space:
  • ESA to Lose Member State Support if ExoMars Launch Postponed – Director-General – Sputnik International
• German space:
  • Germany wakes up to the call of space – The National
• Pakistani space:
  • China and Pakistan sign space exploration agreement – Global Times
• Portuguese space:
  • Portugal Just Launched a National Space Agency! | Space.com
• UAE space:
  • Partnerships boost UAE’s space ambitions | Euronews

Webcasts:

** The Space Show – Fri, 04/26/2019 – Umberto Cavallaro talked about his book, The Race to the Moon Chronicled in Stamps, Postcards, and Postmarks: A Story of Puffery vs. the Pragmatic, and about “documenting early space history through stamps, USSR propaganda, US stamp approach and more”.

** Lucy in the Sky With Asteroids | The Planetary Society

A rare alignment of planets and other objects will enable the solar-powered Lucy spacecraft to examine seven asteroids, six of which are among the thousands of Trojan asteroids that orbit ahead of and behind Jupiter. The mission team, include Hal Levison, Cathy Olkin and Mike Sekerak, hope to unlock secrets of our solar system’s origin through these ancient artifacts. Planetary Society correspondent Andrew Jones helps us celebrate China’s Space Day with an update on the Chang’e 4 lunar mission. The space trivia contest returns as just one cog in the universe-spanning machine called What’s Up.

** April 25, 2019 Zimmerman/Batchelor podcast | Behind The Black

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